Starbucks DEI practices: Moody says programs may cause ‘discrimination against other folks’

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody said on Thursday that sometimes corporate diversity programs may end up causing “discrimination against other folks” when she was asked about her investigation into Starbucks.

Moody was asked about the investigation while speaking Thursday in Land O’ Lakes.

“Many times, a lot of programs, I think, start with very good intentions, so I want to say that right off the bat,” Moody said.

She said many companies include diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in an effort to ensure there’s zero tolerance for discrimination.

“They have almost swung the pendulum to the other side, where there may be discrimination against other folks,” she said. “We see this in a variety of ways. Most recently we’ve seen the launch of these quotas in hiring, which is illegal.”

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Moody said training programs often tell people that they are “oppressive” or “the problem” based on the color of their skin.

“When you start to see it where it might start being an issue in violation of our own civil rights laws, the [Florida Commission on Human Relations] has an obligation to investigate that,” she said.

Moody’s complaint, announced Wednesday, cites a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College. In it, the court ruled racial discrimination “demeans the dignity and worth of a person to be judged by ancestry instead of by his or her own merit and essential qualities.”

Moody’s complaint said Starbucks’ policies are concerning and that the commission should evaluate if the company could be considered an “abusive work environment.”

Moody said the “anti-bias” training Starbucks offered to its workers tried to convince white employees that they were “the problem.” The complaint cited a statement from 2018, in which the executive vice president said, “I was bearing witness to my own white privilege. I had to realize that I’m the problem.”

WFLA.com has reached out to Starbucks for comment but has not received a response.

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